The Ten: The Rise of Sonic Research

It began with a beta discovery.
Or did it?
While Simon Wai’s discovery and eventual release of the beta ROM to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was a major milestone in its own right, it may have only brought into the mainstream something that was ongoing well before the Sonic 2 Beta was well known among Sonic fandom.
Up to the discovery of the Sonic 2 Beta, some fans had dumped data from ROMs to modify data within games.  The modifications weren’t nearly as complex as the projects in place today, such as Sonic Megamix.  But they were enough to show that graphics, levels, and other fare could be changed and edited.
Where the Sonic 2 Beta discovery comes in is in ROM hacking’s use for research.  In dumping the contents of a game, researchers can uncover lost elements that never made it into the final product, but were still existent deep within memory.  It’s how researchers, for example, unearthed pieces of the Hidden Palace Zone from the Sonic 2 Beta, as the concept was dropped from the game.
Prototypes still trickle in to the community for research to this day, in particular by drx, who to date has released more than 1,000 game prototypes for research into the community, including many Sonic and Sega ROMs.  Sites such as X-Cult and Sonic Retro make it their missions to dive into the innards of each game, putting together the pieces toward a complete picture of what Sonic was, and what could have been.
One of the early pioneers of Sonic ROM hacking and research was Andrew Wolan, who founded the Emulation Zone and the original Sonic Stuff Research Group, considered the genesis of the current research boom that exists today.  In its heyday, the SSRG was the center of Sonic research, with a team constantly uncovering new items and developments in classic Sonic titles.  But it wasn’t all roses for the SSRG, and in 2003 amid a hotbed of internal strife, Wolan shut the SSRG down.  TSSZ News recently interviewed Wolan for this story about the SSRG of today and yesterday, as well as his thoughts on the state of Sonic research:
What influences did SSRG and Emulation Zone make on the gaming community? (Tristan’s full disclosure note: This was not formally asked, but rather provided by Wolan as a supplement to the questions that were asked.)
SSRG Influences:
1. Made it ok to have a Sonic fan site that did not contain any fan art, fan fiction or the like.
SSRG was a technically included site that focused heavily on hacking the game and cracking it open to uncover what secrets lye within.
2. Gave credit to where it was due.
It was a policy of mine for all staffers of SSRG to ensure that the source of any new information was properly disclosed. Many sites in the community have adapted this policy.
The most classic example was when Simon Wai released his Sonic2BETA ROM. I went out of my way to ensure that he was given credit for the discovery. Others were trying to claim the title, but SSRG influence allowed the truth to be kept.
3. United hackers to encourage collaboration
This unification also centralized disbursed technical information under one roof.
4. Brought ROM hacking to the mainstream
This is quite probably SSRG’s greatest legacy.
Emulation Zone Influences:
1) Took a stand for legal emulation usage and did not buckle under pressure, ever.
Back in the 1990’s, there was a fear that emulation would go underground due t pressure from the gaming industry. Various sites and emulation projects closed under theses pressures. The ‘Zone held it’s ground through the rough of it.
2) Was one of the first sites to denounce ultraHLE.
The emulator’s release went against the principle’s of the console community and only fueled opposition.
3) Distributed a doc on how to distribute ROM images legally.
(I image laws have been changed to seal this loop hole.)
4) Help influence other emerging trends in console emulation, such as ROM hacking and fan games.
The SSRG began in 1996 as a Sonic fan site.  Did the whole thing just begin as a hobby and shoot up from there, or was there a firm purpose behind it? Did you want it to grow the leaps and bounds that it did?
Before the web became popular, the place to be online were the BBSes. I had wanted to start my own BBS but did not have the resources to do so. (A free computer, a modem and a dedicated phone line.)
Then came this new thing called “The Internet”. On it, you could create a site that was accessible to anyone on the planet. A far cry from running a “local BBS”. So, I got involved with the Internet while my buddies were trying to come-up with a popular local BBS.
My goal was to try and come-up with a site that would be popular. My first sites were fairly “run of the mill” and did not garner much traffic. I knew that in order to succeed, I had to create a site that was unique and different to others. Eventually, some new and exciting trends were emerging in the console emulation community and, well, the rest is history.
When your site became SSRG, was there an ultimate goal as it grew under your tenure with regard to hacking and emulation, and do you think that goal was successful?
As a budding computer engineering major, I wanted to know how hackers did their thing. SSRG allowed me to do that while making this information main stream and accessible to the general public.
Overall, my goals were to grow the site around new trends that emerged around hacking of the Sonic games while ensuring that SSRG was a positive influence to everyone.
The people you worked with on SSRG was a who’s who of community figures from yesterday and even today, and they include Jan Abaza, Rlan, Saxman, Simon Wai, Andre Dirk, and Stealth, among many many others.
Yes and there were various others as well, including Tom Sonic, Wiseman and Taxman. I guess you could say that we had a knack for recruiting the best. 🙂
You endured a bit of drama surrounding SSRG and that led to its original shutdown in 2003. On your EmulationZone history pages you say that the community’s degeneration was one of the main reasons behind the shutdown. The Sonic Retro Wiki states you had problems with the new SSRG head Chaos, and his alliance with the Sonic Cult. What really went on that led to the shutdown?
My decision to shut down SSRG was a difficult, and stemmed from many factors.
(Tristan’s note: Wolan provided a supplementary document to elaborate on the above point further, on the condition that TSSZ News not publish the document in full.  In part, he notes, “A lot of thoughts were racing through my head the moment I concluded I should shut-down SSRG. It was not caused by a single trigger.”  Wolan also shared three key reasons for the shutdown: He knew it wouldn’t last, his personal life was being sacrificed, and concerns surrounding his health.)
It didn’t take long for the SSRG to resurface again under new administrators. It reinvented itself a couple of times since but still exists today under the SSRG name. What do you think of the current SSRG incarnation?
The spin-off that took a direction which I supported the most was SoST. It followed the document approach I wanted to take before WIKI technology went mainstream.
As the current SSRG incarnation by Qjimbo, I think it’s terrific to see someone continue the tradition of making ROM hacking assessable to the masses. Yea, the site is not nearly as big as SSRG of past, but it gets the job done.
What are your thoughts on other sites such as Sonic Retro, who continue to further the research and hacking efforts you essentially pioneered? Do you visit them often? Are you still interested in their findings?
I think some of the Sonic ROM hacking sites out there today are great. I particularly like Sonic Retro’s approach of incorporating the WIKI into their site. As I mentioned previously, I was looking to do something like that on SSRG, but the technology simply was not there. SR did a great job in incorporating it into the site.
There are other great ones out there as well. My favorite Sonic hacking project would have to be Stealth’s Sonic 1 and Knuckles hack. It’s a testament to talents of the community as a whole.
Overall, I am delighted to see people continue to make Sonic ROM hacking mainstream and fun.
Now, do I visit these sites often? No. Am I still interested in their findings? Yes, if it’s something big. Thankfully, Sonic Retro fires off a bulletin email whenever a blockbuster “must-see” event occurs.
Since you’ve endured significant “Drama” in the past as a webmaster, I wonder if you have any words for those in the community who are trying to quell it. Do you think there are one or two good ways to maintain peace in the Sonic community, or at this point, do you think it’s for naught?
Are you telling me that there are 20 something (and even 30-somethings) that are still holding arguments that revolve around a game released in 1991? I think they should find themselves a girlfriend.
As for the webmasters out there, my advice is to install controls that protect the site from trolls and other troublemakers. There is no shortage of a-holes in the world, so the best you can do is to keep them at bay. The successful sites are doing this, so I suggest you that you do the same.
Regarding Emulation Zone, one of the more interesting things about its existence is that it came about from a bet between you and three other friends. Looking back at all you’ve done and all you’ve seen…are you glad you won the bet?
Founding Emulation Zone and SSRG allowed me to do remarking things I never thought I would do while giving me a front seat to the happenings in the console and Sonic ROM hacking communities. As John Lennon once said: “life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.” There is no telling how my life would have turned-out had I not founded those sites. But I can say this for sure: it was fun while it lasted.
Thanks for taking time to speak to TSSZ News.
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One of the biggest obstacles Sonic researchers has overcome in recent times surrounds the ill-fated Sonic X-Treme project for the Genesis, and eventually Sega 32X and Sega Saturn.  The game saw a long development cycle and its results were largely played out in the gaming magazines of the 1990s before the entire project was scrapped.  Gone…but not forgotten.  The involvement of former STI game designer Chris Senn with the Sonic community has resulted in many of the game’s secrets unearthed, and a large source of that material is available at the Sonic Xtreme Compendium, which Senn runs.  But all the imagery in the world isn’t enough; in 2005, a beta of Sonic X-Treme was sold on EBay for $2,500, and it eventually made its way to Sonic researchers two years later.  The Sonic Retro wiki explains the initial community effort to get the beta in the hands of researchers failed, because drama got in the way of new discoveries:

On September 13, 2005, an anonymous Sega employee put a proof-of-concept beta of Sonic X-Treme up for auction on ASSEMbler Games, using TheRedEye as a middleman and auctioneer. TheRedEye posted a notification thread about it on SWS2B. The seller wanted a four-figure sum for it, which immediately put almost every member of the Sonic community out of the running, at least on thier own. TheRedEye then posted in the ASSEMbler’s auction thread stating that an anonymous collector had bid $2,500. Because it was unlikely that it would be dumped and redistributed if a collector bought it, some of the members of ASSEMbler’s decided to start a group bid. Among the Sonic sceners that contributed were LocalH and rika_chou. The community had raised $1,700 before Ratman221 threw a huge monkey wrench into the plan.
Ratman showed up on the 14th with a promise that he would buy the prototype at any cost. He initially bid $3,000 and said that he would raise any higher bids. Some community members were suspicious of this guy, since he gave two phoney AIM screen names and had never been heard of before. However, donations to the pot stopped completely, as everybody thought he was legitimate. After the debacle over the AIM names, LocalH went back and forth between SWS2B, ASSEMblers, and Sonic Classic relaying additional contributions that were made. This brought the group total to $2,365, only $135 short of the collector’s bid.
The next day, after the auction ended, Ratman revealed that his bid was a diversion meant specifically to keep the Sonic community from getting the beta, and said that he was hired by the winning collector (according to him, hl7_18) to keep everybody else out. He also claimed that the entire auction was a show, and that TheRedEye knew of this from the start. All claims about TheRedEye’s involvement in a fake auction are almost certainly false due to his reliability, and hl7_18 adamantly denies both being the buyer and having anything to do with Ratman.
[….]
On September 27, Ratman again posted at ASSEMbler’s. He first withdrew the Perfect Chaos claim, then said that he threw off the auction “… for revenge against certain members of the Sonic Community.”

The quest for knowledge is an ongoing, never-ending process that involves not only looking at the past, but also what the future holds.  As more and more Sonic titles are released, there is more of a pool available for such research.  There is more to uncover from Sonic titles of old and new, and members of the Sonic research community are not only responsible for those discoveries are found, but that they are also known.  Awareness and support of this type of resarch has turned around significantly in the past decade, from the potential wrath game developers would impose and the fear that instilled on the early researchers, to the current willingness to explore and search for what was and what could have been in Sonic’s world.  The vast amount of websites and information available on the topic, and the even more incredible amount of individuals who dedicate themselves to such research shows that there is not only a desire to know, but to know more.
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The Ten is a multi-part series examining the 10 events of the past decade that have shaped Sonic fandom and community affairs today.  It is part of a series meant to complement the 10th anniversary of TSSZ News.